Appointed president of Stade Rennais at the end of last week, Arnaud Pouille was officially presented to the press this Thursday. The former Lens player was chosen to bring a new dynamic to the Breton club while the results at the start of the season raise questions. If all eyes are now focused on the future of the coach, Julien Stéphan was supported by Pouille during his first speech.
“We thought we needed a fresh set of eyes.” It was through the voice of Alban Greget, chairman of the board of directors and representative of the Pinault family, owner of the club, that Stade Rennais explained this Thursday the arrival of Arnaud Pouille at the head of the club. The ouster of Olivier Cloarec almost a week ago surprised many people at the club. The main person concerned in the first place did not expect it. According to several sources, no reproach was made to the former manager who was informed of the shareholder’s decision on Wednesday, two days before the officialization.
Rennes’ results under Cloarec were good sportingly until last season with consecutive European qualifications and club management, particularly in terms of player sales, the reserved domain of the ex-manager (nearly 300 million euros of player sales estimated over the last two seasons and a positive balance of 120 million euros). Alban Greget agrees: “We thank Olivier Cloarec for all the work he has done for three and a half years at the club. He took on the challenge with great professionalism and commitment and we salute him.”
Despite everything, the club’s owners had been thinking about a change for several weeks. Several names of leaders capable of launching a new cycle were listed, the name of Pouille coming back to the top, then presented by Alban Greget to François-Henri Pinault.
Contacts dating back more than three weeks
Why Puglia and what else does he have? “He is not a stranger to you. He has 25 years of experience at the high level first in rugby, then football where Lens was a Ligue 2 club when he arrived and went as far as the Champions League. For us, he has targeted expertise on what the club wants to do, on supporting performance. He has a committed, structured, serious and at the same time engaging personality,” explains Alban Greget, who reaffirms this. unchanged ambitions for the club, namely European qualification as often as possible, promoting the training center and promoting Brittany.
The timing of the change of presidency the day before the Rennes-Monaco match was surprising as a more favorable international break was looming. “It wasn’t the best moment for us,” Ludovic Blas conceded after the defeat against ASM. Had the club wanted to cause a sort of electric shock? No. The choice of timing does not really enter into the shareholder’s mode of operation. “When you have the right person and when you have made a decision, the philosophy of the Pinault family is rather to implement it as quickly as possible,” explains Alban Greget. The first contacts between the two men would have been established at least three weeks ago, Arnaud Pouille revealing with a smile “having watched the last Rennes-Lens (1-1 on September 21) while still being from Lens but having an attentive eye at Stade Rennais.
For Pouille, “it’s a real pride to join Stade Rennais”, with, he assures, “a very clear road map. It’s challenging but if I accepted, it’s because I feel capacity. I have a few credos. The first thing is to work together in the same direction. From there the performance will come and in this case the results. a bit of feeling when we were European for six years and last year we were not. The messages were clearly sent by the shareholder, the Pinault family and by all of you (journalists).”
The maintenance of Stéphan not yet called into question
Rennes currently seems far from the European ambitions reaffirmed by the club’s leaders. Twelfth in Ligue 1 with 7 points, the Bretons will have to collect and quickly. The XXL transfer window (11 arrivals for 13 departures) led by Frederic Massara is still struggling to convince, with recruits still only gradually integrating into the standard eleven. Arnaud Pouille knows Massara well. He was very seriously considering bringing him to Lens before being dismissed from his position with the Sangs et Or. Julien Stéphan regularly asks him for patience. Will he benefit from it for long? “Arnaud’s arrival is independent of the choice of a coach,” assures Alban Greget before qualifying. “Afterwards, it is Arnaud and Frédéric who will manage the club and therefore ask themselves this question that all managers constantly ask themselves about their coach.”
What does Arnaud Pouille think then? “I spent a lot of time with Julien. I knew his expertise. It is recognized. Julien is not satisfied with the current results but he is constantly looking for solutions. He tries to get the best out of his workforce. We have to work together and all in the same direction. I arrived last Friday. I watched Rennes-Lens, PSG-Rennes and I found that last Saturday against Monaco, there was a lot better. 21st century, there is data to confirm or not our feelings and they tell us that yes the group has made a lot of efforts which have not been rewarded”, he analyzes. “We must also of course plan ahead for the upcoming meetings, starting with the one in Brest after the break. Julien said it. He knows that the situation is not easy but I guarantee you that it will work. I I’m lucky enough to have the office for all the sessions, I can measure the intensity that is put in.”
But in football, results obviously remain the judge of the peace. “I am not afraid to make decisions and to make them at the right time,” Pouille also said when asked to describe his personality and his way of leading. He did not respond in this specific case on the future of the coach and for the moment, the maintenance of Stéphan was never in question. The Breton coach had pointed to the start of the season schedule with difficult opponents for a rebuilding team like his to partly explain the mixed results (Monaco 1st, Paris 2nd, Reims 4th, Strasbourg 7th). The upcoming sequence until the next break (Brest, Le Havre, Auxerre, Toulouse) will undoubtedly no longer leave many excuses.
